Hidden shower surround storage

ABSTRACT

A planar wall member provides a portion of a tub and shower surround, and is also provided with at least one shelf. A forward wall at least partially conceals the shelf from an observer looking into the tub and shower surround.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

This application relates to a molded end wall of a tub and showersurround wherein a storage area is provided that is concealed from anobserver looking into the tub and shower surround.

Modern tubs and showers are often made by mounting a tub, and thenmounting walls to surround the tub. The walls are typically molded to beplanar members that are secured to the underlying walls of a structurearound the tub.

Tub and shower surrounds such as described above are provided withstorage areas such as soap dishes, etc. Shelves may be provided.

However, all of the known storage areas that have typically beenprovided are in clear view of an observer. Thus there is some aestheticdetraction to the way they have been provided.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

In the disclosed embodiment of this invention, a storage area is moldedonto an end wall of a tub and shower surround. A forward wall blocks anobserver from seeing the storage area from an orientation looking intothe tub surround.

These and other features of the present invention can be best understoodfrom the following specification and drawings, the following of which isa brief description.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a first embodiment.

FIG. 2 is a front view of the first embodiment.

FIG. 3 shows a second embodiment.

FIG. 4 shows a third embodiment.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

FIG. 1 shows a tub and shower surround 20. As known, end walls 22 may bemolded of plastic into a planar shape to be secured to an underlyingstructure (see also FIG. 3) such as structure walls 39. The rear wall 24is similarly formed. Two end walls and a rear wall typically are mountedabout a tub 26. In some applications, part of the rear wall can beformed with the end walls, and this application may extend to suchsystems. As shown in FIGS. 1-4, the rear wall 24 and the two end wall 22are attached directly to and are in parallel with the structure walls39.

In the tub and shower surround 20, a forward wall 28 conceals aplurality of storage shelves 30. The shelves 30 and forward wall 28 aremolded to extend integrally and perpendicularly away from the planar endwall 22.

Shower and tub spouts (100, 105 respectively) are shown.

As shown in FIG. 2, an observer looking into the tub and shower surround20 does not see the shelves 30, but rather sees the forward walls 28. Ofcourse, if one is looking into the tub and shower surround 20 at anangle, the shelves 30 will be observable, however, the forward walls 28do conceal a good deal of the shelves. The forward walls 28 have a top60, a bottom 62, and an inner edge 64 facing into the shower surround20. The top 60 is at or near a top 66 of the back or side walls 22, 24and the bottom is at or near a top of the tub 68 (or the bottom of backor side walls 22, 24). The inner edge 64, which is most distal from theplanar end wall 22, has a length that extends linearly a distance fromand between an inner end 70 facing into the shower surround 20 of thetop 60, to an inner end 72 facing into the shower surround 20 of thebottom 62 whereby the shelves 30 are bounded along the entire length ofits side 74 by the forward wall 28. The forward wall 28 extends from atop 66 of the rear and side walls 22, 24 to a top 68 of the tub 26.

In the embodiment shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the forward wall 28 does notextend directly vertically, but as can be seen in FIG. 1, it is curvedoutwardly from a top 29 of the rear wall 24 to a point 31 near a middleof the forward wall and inwardly to a bottom 31 of the rear wall 24.

FIG. 3 shows another embodiment 38, wherein the forward wall 42 doesextend directly vertically and again conceals shelves 44. In thisembodiment, the shelves 44 and end wall 42 are again formed to extendperpendicularly away from the planar end wall 40.

As can be appreciated from FIGS. 1 and 3, the forward wall can bedirectly vertical or curved, and the shelves and end wall may bepositioned toward an inner end of the end wall, or at an outer end.

Further, other shapes for the end walls and shelves would come withinthe scope of this invention. Five designs are shown in co-pending designpatent applications 29/296522; 29/296523; 29/296517; 29/296516; and29/296526, all entitled “Hidden Shower Storage,” filed on even dateherewith, and naming the same inventors.

FIG. 4 shows yet another embodiment 50, wherein the end wall 52 ismolded to have a forward wall 54 concealing shelves 56, not unlike theFIG. 1 embodiment. However, a door 58 is pivotally attached to the endwall 52 such that it can be closed to further conceal the shelves 56.Again, various shapes for the door and storage areas could be utilizedto provide this feature.

At least one shelf extends perpendicularly away from a planar wallmember 22 from an inner end 21 thereof, for a first distance to an outerend 32 most distal from the planar wall member 22. A forward wall 28extends away from the planar wall member for a distance that is at leastas far as the end 32 and is positioned on a side of the at least oneshelf that is spaced toward an outside location when the planar wallmember is mounted into the structure. The forward wall at leastpartially blocks a sight line for the at least one shelf.

Although embodiments of this invention have been disclosed, a worker ofordinary skill in this art would recognize that certain modificationswould come within the scope of this invention. For that reason, thefollowing claims should be studied to determine the true scope andcontent of this invention.

What is claimed is:
 1. A shower surround wall comprising: a moldedplanar wall member for attaching directly to a structure wall and inparallel thereto; an opposing wall facing opposite said molded planarwall member, said opposing wall for attaching directly to anotherstructure wall and in parallel thereto; at least one shelf extendingaway from said molded planar wall member and toward said opposing wall,said shelf having a shelf end most distal from said molded planar wallmember, and wherein said at least one shelf is open to a directionfacing into the shower surround wall, and wherein said at least oneshelf extends only partially across a width of said molded planar wallmember; a forward wall extending away from said molded planar wallmember and toward said opposing wall, said forward wall having a top,said top having a first inner end, and a bottom having a second innerend, said first and second inner ends facing into said shower surroundwall, and an inner edge extending linearly along a length between saidfirst inner end and said second inner end, said inner edge extendingfrom said molded planar wall member for a distance that is at least asfar as said shelf end and positioned on a side of said at least oneshelf wherein the forward wall faces toward a location outside of saidshower surround wall when said molded planar wall member is mounted tothe structure wall, such that said forward wall at least partiallyblocks a sight line to said at least one shelf; and a rear wallconfigured to extend between said molded planar wall member and saidopposing wall, said rear wall extending perpendicular to said moldedplanar wall member and said opposing wall, and wherein said shelf end isparallel to said molded planar wall member and said opposing wall. 2.The shower surround wall as set forth in claim 1, wherein there is aplurality of said shelf.
 3. The shower surround wall as set forth inclaim 2, wherein said shelves start at said molded planar wall memberthat is in said shower surround wall when said molded planar wall memberis mounted directly to the structure wall.
 4. The tub and showersurround wall as set forth in claim 2, wherein said forward wall is atan outer edge of said molded planar wall member, when said molded planarwall member is mounted to a structure.
 5. The tub and shower surroundwall as set forth in claim 1, wherein a door is attached to conceal astorage area provided by said at least one shelf.
 6. The tub and showersurround wall as set forth in claim 1, wherein said forward wall extendsin a direction which will be directly vertical when said molded planarwall member is mounted to a structure.
 7. The shower surround wall asset forth in claim 1, wherein said forward wall defines a curved surfacethat faces a direction that is outside of said shower surround wall. 8.The shower surround wall as set forth in claim 7, wherein said moldedplanar wall member comprises a shower end wall and including a moldedshower rear wall that is formed together with said shower end wall andsaid forward wall, and wherein said curved surface has at least a firstportion spaced from the rear wall by a first distance and a secondportion spaced from the rear wall by a second distance greater than thefirst distance.
 9. The shower surround wall as set forth in claim 1,wherein said forward wall only extends as far as said shelf end of saidshelf.
 10. The shower surround wall of claim 1, wherein said moldedplanar wall member comprises a first end wall and said opposing wallcomprises a second end wall, and wherein the rear wall is configured toextend entirely across a rear wall structure between said first andsecond end walls to define a shower open area, and wherein said firstend wall directly faces said second end wall and wherein said rear wallis formed with said first end wall, and wherein said at least one shelfattaches to said first end wall and to said rear wall such that whenfacing said rear wall said at least one shelf is not visible.
 11. Theshower surround wall of claim 1, wherein said inner edge extends from atop of said shower surround to a top of a tub.
 12. The shower surroundwall of claim 1, wherein said inner edge extends an entire length ofsaid molded planar wall member.
 13. The shower surround wall as setforth in claim 1, wherein said molded planar wall member comprises afirst shower end wall and said opposing wall comprises a second showerend wall, and including a molded shower rear wall that is formedtogether with at least said first shower end wall and said forward wall,said molded shower rear wall configured to extend entirely across a rearwall structure defining a shower open area.
 14. The shower surround wallas set forth in claim 1, wherein said molded planar wall member isdefined by a height extending from a wall member top to a wall memberbottom and is defined by said width which extends from a first wall edgeat a shower rear wall and a second wall edge spaced outwardly from saidfirst wall edge, and wherein said opposing wall has the same height andwidth as the molded planar wall member to form a shower surround that isconfigured to be mounted about a tub, and wherein said at least oneshelf extends across less than half of said width of said molded planarwall member.
 15. The shower surround wall as set forth in claim 14,wherein said at least one shelf extends from said forward wall in anaxial direction toward the shower rear wall to define a shelf length,and wherein said shelf length does not extend axially beyond a showerspout location.
 16. The shower surround wall as set forth in claim 1,wherein said at least one shelf comprises a plurality of shelves thatare spaced apart from each other in a vertical direction by open spacessuch that items supported by the plurality of shelves are accessiblefrom within the shower surround wall.
 17. A shower surround wallcomprising: a molded planar wall member for attaching directly to astructure wall and in parallel thereto; an opposing wall facing oppositesaid molded planar wall member, said opposing wall for attachingdirectly to another structure wall and in parallel thereto; a rear wallformed with said molded planar wall member and extending between themolded planar wall member and the opposing wall such that said moldedplanar wall member directly faces said opposing wall; at least one shelfextending away from said molded planar wall member and toward saidopposing wall, said shelf having a shelf end most distal from saidmolded planar wall member and a side extending a length from said moldedplanar wall member to said shelf end, and wherein said at least oneshelf is open to a direction facing into the shower surround wall; aforward wall extending away from said molded planar wall member andtoward said opposing wall, wherein said at least one shelf extends fromsaid forward wall in an axial direction toward said rear wall to definea shelf length, and wherein said shelf length extends only partiallyacross a width of said molded planar wall member; wherein said forwardwall has a top, said top having a first inner end, and a bottom having asecond inner end, said first and second inner ends facing said opposingwall, and an inner edge extending linearly along a length between saidfirst inner end and said second inner end, said inner edge extendingfrom said molded planar wall member for a distance that is at least asfar as said shelf end and positioned on a side of said at least oneshelf, such that said forward wall bounds said shelf length; and saidrear wall extends perpendicular to said molded planar member and saidopposing wall, and wherein said shelf end is parallel to said moldedplanar wall member and said opposing wall.
 18. The shower surround wallas set forth in claim 17, wherein there is a plurality of said shelf.19. The shower surround wall as set forth in claim 18, wherein saidplurality of said shelf starts at said molded planar wall member that isin said shower surround wall when said molded planar wall member ismounted directly to the structure wall.
 20. The shower surround wall asset forth in claim 17, wherein said forward wall defines a curvedsurface that faces a direction that is outside of said shower surroundwall.
 21. The shower surround wall as set forth in claim 17, whereinsaid forward wall only extends as far as said shelf end of said shelf.22. The shower surround wall of claim 17, wherein said molded planarwall member comprises a first end wall and said opposing wall comprisesa second end wall, and wherein said rear wall is configured to extendentirely across a rear wall structure defining a shower open area, andwherein said rear wall is formed together with said first end wall, andwherein said side of said shelf attaches to said molded planar wallmember and to said rear wall such that when facing the rear wall the atleast one shelf is not visible.
 23. The shower surround wall of claim17, wherein said inner edge extends from a top of said shower surroundwall to a top of a tub.
 24. The shower surround wall of claim 17,wherein said inner edge extends a length of said molded planar wallmember.
 25. The shower surround wall as set forth in claim 17, whereinsaid molded planar wall member comprises a shower end wall and whereinthe rear wall comprises a molded shower rear wall that is formedtogether with said shower end wall and said forward wall, said moldedshower rear wall configured to extend entirely across a rear wallstructure defining a shower open area.
 26. The shower surround wall asset forth in claim 17, wherein said molded planar wall member is definedby a height extending from a wall member top to a wall member bottom andis defined by said width which extends from a first wall edge at ashower rear wall and a second wall edge spaced outwardly from said firstwall edge, and wherein said opposing wall has the same height and widthas the molded planar wall member to form a shower surround that isconfigured to be mounted about a tub, and wherein said at least oneshelf extends across less than half of said width of said molded planarwall member.
 27. The shower surround wall as set forth in claim 17,wherein said at least one shelf comprises a plurality of shelves thatare spaced apart from each other in a vertical direction by open spacessuch that items supported by the plurality of shelves are accessiblefrom within the shower surround wall.
 28. The shower surround wall asset forth in claim 17, wherein said shelf length does not extend axiallybeyond a shower spout location.